It's already been a few weeks since the Atlanta Falcons signed Kyle Pitts to a three-year, $54 million contract extension, but we just learned what the terms of the full contract will be. And all I can say is that this might be Ian Cunningham's best work yet just based on the inner-workings of the contract.
Before becoming the Falcons' new general manager this offseason, Cunningham spent time learning from the master of contracts himself, Howie Roseman, with the Philadelphia Eagles. And it's clear that Roseman's tricks of the trade translated to Atlanta's own front office during negotiations with Pitts.
Roseman is iconic for his usage of void years in contracts, and the Falcons' deal with Kyle Pitts has a whopping four void years, but that's not even the best strategic decision Cunningham made in the terms of this extension: the Pitts deal basically has an out after two years before the 2028 season.
Falcons' strategy can get out of the Kyle Pitts extension easily in 2028
The Dirty Birds positioned the contract with the 25-year-old to have minimal cap hits through 2028. He's set to make $4.62 million in 2026, $8.21 million in 2027, and $13.01 million in 2028, which is set to give the team plenty of salary cap while deferring many of his salary decisions to 2028 and later.
The plan in Atlanta is to continue deferring money to future years, because if the money at your disposal will grow, you can cross that bridge when you get to it salary wise. And having a backloaded contract with Pitts will continue giving Cunningham financial flexibility during the duration of the deal.
So instead of the $15.045 million he would've made on the franchise tag or the $18 million in average annual value, the Falcons are getting good value. But they have to be strategic with how they handle this in three years, because if Cunningham isn't smart, this sort of gymnastics can blow up in his face.
The thing here is that the 2021 first-round pick is set to make most of his salary from a prorated option bonus, which is why he has a $27.39 million cap number in the first of his void years in 2029. But there will be a $5.97 prorated bonus option in this contract from 2029-2031, while this option will go down to $2.672 million in 2032.
That means that the Falcons have to decide whether or not they want to extend PItts before the out in 2028. If he walks in free agency in 2029, the contract voids and accelerates all of the prorated option and signing bonus money at once, which is the one thing this front office is hoping to avoid.
If the Falcons do extend Kyle Pitts before 2028, the bonus money can roll into a new contract, which can allow them to evaluate how he's playing under Kevin Stefanski. And if he's released (which seems unlikely), not much cap space would be saved, but it would prevent a big blow-up with the bonuses.
Falcons fans should be excited about seeing the terms of the Pitts extension. They now have a front office that put them in a favorable situation, but they shouldn't be all that brokenhearted if this deal doesn't work. And how we look back on this extension will depend on how the next two years go.
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